I Wait
by AbbyElle
Summary: The story of Nessie Cullen as she begins to cross the line between friendship and love with her favorite russet werewolf.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, I am just trying out this story. Let me know what you think please :-)**

**All of these characters are Stephenie Meyer's.**

**Chapter 1: I Wait**

"There has fallen a splendid tear, from the passion-flower at the gate. She is coming, my dove, my dear; She is coming, my life, my fate; The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;" And the white rose weeps, "She is late;" The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear;" And the lily whispers, "I wait."

As I reread the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson for the seventh time there was still only one thing that came to my mind from the immortal words that he had written so long ago. One thing that, aside from my family, I could talk about with no one.

The assignment was due tomorrow. A three page paper on what I thought Tennyson was conveying through this poem. I sat with my laptop outside under my favorite tree. It was peaceful out here with the tiny river laughing in the distance and the sound of the wind as it rustled the leaves on the trees and bushes around me. I could hear the sounds of two squirrels arguing about a hundred feet away.

"Nessie, are you out here?" Jacob's voice came from the other side of the river. Quickly, I stuffed my laptop back into my messenger bag and swung the strap over my shoulder. I would never be as fast as my father, but I had inherited his competitive nature. My goal: make it to the bank of the river before Jacob could jump it.

My heart beat with the pure freedom that came from running. I loved feeling the wind whip my hair out behind me like ribbon of copper. I felt in control when I ran, a feeling that I savored.

As I approached the river I saw Jacob's hulky form as he laid his clothes on the ground and, in the blink of an eye, changed from the handsome boy into the magnificent russet wolf.

I pushed myself harder. The wolf took the stance of an animal on the verge of attack. His front paws poised so that his shoulders were lower than his hips. He was getting ready to make his move. Adrenaline surged through my veins as I burst from the woods and in one graceful leap bounded from one side of the river to the other.

"You rang?" I teased. He rolled his eyes and walked over to rub his soft head against my stomach, his usual greeting in wolf form. I ran my fingers through the thick reddish brown fur, feeling that familiar spark of electricity that surged through my heart every time our skin, or in his case fur, made contact.

Jacob and I had a bond that was unlike anything I had ever experienced with anyone else. My family and I were close, yes, but there was something else with Jacob. Something more… intimate with him. When I looked into his eyes sometimes it felt like there was nothing that existed beyond the two of us.

As we began walking to where he left his clothes I asked. "Am I late?"

He bobbed his giant head up and down.

"Crap… Alice is going to kill me! Do you mind if I run ahead? You need to change anyways."

He nodded his head in the direction of the house. I didn't run, but I walked fast. The last thing I needed right now was Alice harping on me about being late for another family get together. Last night she all but chastised my father for being late for dinner. Of course it was because Grandpa Charlie was coming over so we were serving _actual_ human food and sitting at the dinning room table, something we only do for Grandpa Charlie.

I knew that if I were late tonight that Alice wouldn't be above tying me to a tree upside down. See, tonight was my mother and father's sixteenth wedding anniversary and everyone (yes, I do mean everyone) was coming.

Alice knew my mother well enough to know that she would pitch a royal fit if she knew there was a party being planned on her behalf, especially one of this magnitude, so she sent her and my father off to Seattle for the day. They were due back in exactly six hours, which was eight too few for all of the decorating Alice needed to do.

As I entered the living room I couldn't stop my jaw from falling open at what stood before me. Alice had actually ordered one of those giant banners, you know, like the ones you see at the prom or on a billboard, that had a giant blown up picture of my parents from their wedding with the words _Congratulations Bella and Edward Cullen on Sixteen Happy Years of Marriage! May There Be Many More!_

"So, what do you think?" Alice asked as she wrapped some gold streamers around the banister of the stairs.

_Umm… I think mom is going to blow a gasket when she sees this! Is what I wanted to say, instead I just answered: "I think its really nice." Lame… _

"_It's a little small. I wish I would have gone with the color one, the black and white seemed more elegant but I think it needs a little something…" _

"_I like the black and white. It looks very… regal." I said with a bit of skepticism. Alice didn't miss it. _

"_You hate it don't you." Her pixie like face fell. I was just about to deny it when Emmet walked in holding what looked like a hundred balloons of all colors in his giant hands. _

"_Where do you want these Alice?" He asked. "Hey Ness, where's your wolf-boy?" _

"_I'm right here." Jacob said from the doorway. "Geese Emmet, did you rob the local Chucky Cheese?" _

"_How'd you guess?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "You know I just love playing those whack the mole games they have. They should change it to whack the wolf-"_

"_Easy now, there is no time for this! We are already behind schedule and we need to finish the decorating and get ready before they get home!" Alice's voice was all business. "Emmett, you can put those balloons over there on that table. Rosalie will take care of them. Jacob, go take a shower, you smell like rotting garbage. Nessie, you come with me and help set the table."_

_I raised my eyebrows skeptically. "Why?" _

_Alice groaned. "Because Charlie, Sue and the pack are coming for diner."_

_I sighed and turned for the kitchen. I hated setting the table. I guess when you just didn't need silverware on a regular basis the task seemed so overly unnecessary. Half the pack didn't even use their forks anyway… _

"_Hey." Jacob came up behind me had placed his hands on my hips. It was a gesture that always made my heart beat a little faster, and I think he knew it. "When we have a minute away from the party-Nazi I think we should talk." _

"_Okay. Do you want to meet me at the usual place after the party tonight? _

_Jacob smiled, the left side of his lips lifting just a little higher than his right. "Sounds like a date." He kissed me on the cheek and walked into the bathroom. Though Alice had said he smelled like rotting garbage, all I could smell was the sweet smell of wolf that I found comforting, that felt like home. _

_I couldn't stop smiling as I entered the kitchen and took out the special set of China Esme always insisted on using for guests. Nothing, not even kitchen duty, could kill the sparks that were tingling in my blood, pulsing strongest over the spot where Jacob's lips had just been on my cheek. _

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	2. Chapter 2

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**All of these characters are property of Stephenie Meyer.**

The stars shown brightly through the break in the trees. It was a rare night when the clouds parted and allowed a midnight glimpse into the Universe like this; almost as rare as when my mother actually enjoyed herself at a party thrown in her honor. I smiled, remembering the look on her face as she and my father walked in through the front door, hand in hand, to find themselves in the middle of a balloon infested streamer heaven that would make any high school prom committee proud. Once she stopped shooting furious glances at Alice and realized that she couldn't fight it she began to relax.

Jacob barely left my side all night. Something about him has really been bugging me lately, and I can't figure out exactly what. It is almost as if he looks at me differently. I've noticed his eyes seem to grow distant sometimes when I am talking or even when we are just sitting in silence, like the time we were watching Emmett and Jasper _attempt_ to play bocce ball last week (the game ended when Emmett accidentally threw the ball too hard knocking Jasper's through a window. Esme was not impressed, to say the least.)

An owl hooted softly in the distance. The sounds of the forest were comforting to me. They were home. As I sat on a fallen tree I allowed the music of the woods to fill me. If there were only a way to describe what I was hearing with actual words, I would write it and give it to Jacob. It was a feeling that only the forest could create in me; like I were a privileged guest, only one of the few to be allowed to share in such beautiful magic.

"Nessie." Jacob's voice cut through the song, bringing me back to the present moment. His deep baritone voice seemed to blend and harmonize with the forest, making the song seem as if it were personal, just for me.

"Jacob." I answered back to him. "I thought you were going to stay at the house a while longer."

He sat down next to me on the log and grinned that lop sided smile I loved so much. His shaggy hair fell over his eyes, I was surprised with how much I wanted to brush aside the rogue locks.

"I was needed to get out of there. Emmett had gotten a hold of a pile of balloons and was serenading Bella while sucking helium. Her face was priceless, but I couldn't take the smell of his breath mixed with chemicals." He scrunched his nose. I knew he didn't particularly like the way my family smelled and appreciated that he was willing to put that feeling aside whenever he was here.

"Ahh… I should have known he would get into the balloons…" Emmett was by far the most comical person I knew. Which wasn't saying much since I didn't know hardly anyone outside of my family and the wolf pack. Actually, come to think of it, I didn't know anyone outside of my family and the wolf pack with the exception of Zafrina, the Amazon vampire whom had befriended me when I was a toddler. Every year on my birthday she sent a beautiful card and promised to visit soon. And she had a few times throughout the years bringing her coven with her.

"Something is bugging you. What's up Ness, spill it."

Though Jacob was my best friend the least thing I wanted right now was to confess the thing that had been troubling me for the last few days. Instead, I avoided his question. "I want to share something with you." I took his hand and allowed the pictures of the night sky fill my mind as I mentally shared my moment of the Universe with him.

When the memory was over Jacob didn't release my hand; instead he continued to hold it, rubbing his warm thumb over my cooler skin. The contrast of his deep native skin tone was almost unnoticeable in the faint starlight. Though I wasn't as pale as my parents, my skin held a delicate peaches and cream tone that my father continually told me he loved. I wondered if Jacob found my skin tone beautiful too…

I let go of his hand and stood. "I'm sorry Jacob, I'm feeling tired. Do you mind if call it a night?"

The dark of the night couldn't hide the surprise from his face, or his voice for that matter. Of course, being half vampire I did have a bit of an advantage when it came to seeing without light. "No, I didn't do anything to piss you off did I? Your picture was nice. I always love seeing how you see the world around you."

I smiled. "I know you do, you tell me all the time. It's just been a long day."

"Alright." He said. "Call me tomorrow, I was going to head over to Sam and Emily's for a bit, do you want to go with me?"

"That sounds good, but mom will kill me if I don't finish her paper by tomorrow. Can I let you know tomorrow?" I asked.

"Sure, sure." He replied, his head tilting to the side. "Goodnight, my Renesme."

I smiled. Besides my mother, he was the only one who could get away with calling me by my given name. "Goodnight, my Jacob."

________________________________________________________________________

As I lay in my bed unable to turn off my mind I saw the door to my bedroom begin to crack open. My mother poked her head through the crack, checking no doubt to see if I were asleep yet.

"I'm still awake if you want to come in for a bit." I offered, clearly catching her off guard.

She smiled and walked over to sit on the edge of my bed like she had done so many times throughout the last six years. "You caught me." She said playfully. "Not able to sleep?"

I just shook my head, my long braid tickling my neck as it bounced lightly.

"Is there something bothering you? You haven't really been yourself lately."

"It's just stupid… " I said, not entirely sure if I was willing to share my worries.

"If it matters to you then it isn't stupid, Renesme. You don't need to talk to me tonight, but if you do you know that I am here to listen, okay?"

I smiled and placed my hand on top of hers, conveying without words just how much I appreciated and loved her. She squeezed my hand before standing and walking towards the half opened door.

She turned back towards me, and in a voice that was little more than a whisper said. "I know you must be going through a hard time, honey. It isn't easy living in a world where you are the only one of your age. Hang in there, it will get better." And with the light click of the door closing, I was alone with my thoughts again. Only this time, they weren't filled with Jacob. This time, they were filled with a desire so forbidden, I knew I could never share it with anyone. Not even my mother.

**I'm fluffy, I know. :) Trust me, next chapter is going to get a whole lot jucier though! ;)**


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